Patrick Kerns Posted August 29, 2015 Author Share Posted August 29, 2015 (edited) Progress! Edited August 29, 2015 by Patrick Kerns Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 Brake drums and rotors are more work than they are worth. Many smiths use them but by the time you cut a plate to block the holes, buy a 2" flore flange, 3-2" pipe niples, a 2" "T" fabricate an ash dump and figure out how to mount the thing their are other ways to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Kerns Posted August 30, 2015 Author Share Posted August 30, 2015 (edited) Charles, of course you're correct thanks for your comments. I thought about a number of options for my first forge including welded steel plate firepot, commercial cast iron firepot, and some sort of duck's nest. Brake drum won out for me based on the KISS principle - minimal expense, ease of fabrication, proven history of effectiveness. After it's been up and running for a while I'm sure I'll want to change some things about the forge and will hopefully have cash to upgrade to a commercial cast firepot eventually or the welding skills to fabricate a nice plate firepot. Edited August 30, 2015 by Patrick Kerns Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkie Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 Patrick, I think your forge will be just fine. Get that thing assembled and put 'er to work. I would suggest making an ash dump of some design (there are all kinds) and dispensing with the pipe cap. Removing and replacing it will get old fast; and, when the threads start rusting a bit it will be harder to do so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Kerns Posted August 31, 2015 Author Share Posted August 31, 2015 Arkie, thanks for the tip. Now that I have some access to a welder I should be able to put something together for a proper ash dump, I've seen a lot of good designs for both sliding and lever ash dumps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Kerns Posted September 1, 2015 Author Share Posted September 1, 2015 After about four hours of extremely ill-planned mucking about in my workshop/basement/home gym/storage area I present what is undoubtedly the ugliest thing I've ever made.THE COMEDY FORGE mark IThe funniest part is that it actually works! It's probably not going to be getting anything to forge welding temp but it will suffice to get me to the goal of "light a fire" by this weekend at which point I will be using a rock as an anvil so I can actually hammer on something.This "apparatus" probably isn't going to last more than a few forging sessions but it is temporary until I finish overhauling my champion 400 and weld together my forge table.Also, I'll but putting some bricks under the brake drum so I don't burn up the workbench and will be burning some charcoal in the first few loads until I get to the guild meeting to buy some coal at the end of the month.Just need to kludge something together out of scrap for the grating inside the drum and it will be ready to fire up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 My only suggestions are: Get a better, preferably non flammable table to set the fire pot in. Then hit the truck parts store and buy an exhaust flap cap that'll slip over the bottom part of the tuyere. Trying to dump the ash by unscrewing the cap is more PITA than it's worth.Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkie Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 (edited) Patrick, for your grating a cast iron floor drain grating works OK. Just find one that will cover your tuyere. You won't be able to weld cast iron to the drum and make it hold (due to cracking), and don't need to...the weight of the drain plus the bulk of the coal/coke/charcoal will keep it down. Those will last a while, then burn out. Once you get your welder fixed, you can make a grate out of 1/2" square bar and just drop it down into the drum; that's what I'm using now. Here's what I came up with (I think I have posted this before somewhere here). Edited September 1, 2015 by arkie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Kerns Posted September 1, 2015 Author Share Posted September 1, 2015 (edited) Frosty, thanks for the tip on where to find flap caps - also I think I'll take the wood slats off and use some steel to hold up the forge Arkie, I was eyeing some of my square stock with something like this in mind last night, it's nice to see it so well executed! Edited September 1, 2015 by Patrick Kerns Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkie Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 Patrick, I went through about 3 of the small cast iron drain grates, but this has lasted longer than all three of them combined. Of course, it's thicker. I wish I could find a cast iron grate as thick and the size like the steel one I welded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 Side blast forges are "the" proven design. At least a few milinia worth of proof, simple, low cost, multi fuel...tho your setup will work just fine with coal. Another option for those who just have to have a bottom blast but lack the funds for a cast fire bowl is a 8 to 2" bell reducer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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